Radiology Physician Job

Reason for this eleven-member group’s search is a result of growing volume and a steadily expanding ER. Clinically, the group needs a general radiologist who likes all of the imaging modalities as well as all other modalities short of heavy IR procedures. Someone that would be willing to spend a small, but buildable percentage of their time doing MSK could do fairly well, but that is not mandatory by any means. There are five orthopedic surgeons as well as two sports medicine docs that refer exclusively to the group. In addition, the hospital has recruited two more orthopods and potentially one more sports medicine doctor, meaning potentially a lot of MSK in the future for someone with the interpersonal marketing skills to build the service to its full potential. The hospital is also soon to break ground on a new building dedicated exclusively to orthopedics and they expect that to be completed in 2010. However, it is a general radiology practice overall and a viable candidate will be someone willing to do all other modalities including very basic interventional. Ideally, they would like to find someone well versed in all modalities: MR, CT, US, mammo, fluoro, plain film and basic IR procedures (an abscess drainage, a CT guided biopsy, etc.) as well, but will consider candidates on a case by case basis and a MSK fellowship or background is definitely not a pre-requisite to be a viable candidate.

The group does very little vascular interventional work, so this skill is not really required.   They do, however, have a lot of MRI overall and someone's MSK and/or body imaging skills are going to be put to good use.  Their hospital has been turned into a center of excellence for spine and their neuro guys have started doing kyphoplasties in addition to other pain management procedures.  The next concern for the group is finding someone with a pretty good work ethic (expect a very manageable volume of about 16K-18K a year), and more importantly, someone who is self-motivated and looking for a long term situation. Next on the group’s check list is finding someone who meets both of the above criteria and can fit in with the group interpersonally. And to best describe what kind of person would fit in best with them, it may be easier to explain the kind of environment you would be working in which, in its simplest form might be described as busy and service oriented, but casual and balanced.  The group has been in their present 450-bed community hospital for 25+ years and over that time the group has fostered extremely close relationships with their referring docs, the hospital administration, and the community itself. They always and without exception, make time for the people they serve. If a referring doc calls, the call is answered or returned promptly. Patients and techs are treated with respect and dignity.  And the group really does work on the same team as the hospital. At the same time, things are pretty much on a first name basis and they could care less whether you like symphonies or stock car racing (both of which by the way are available within 30 minutes). They just want a regular guy/lady who cares about what they do and who truly wants to come here to settle in and become a partner. It is a very unique opportunity for a  radiologist looking to live suburban to one of the Midwest's best cities and be able to have a great lifestyle outside of work. 

In return, the group offers a pretty nice professional set-up in a number of respects. Physically the group presently covers two locations, the primary location being a 450-bed community hospital about 30 minutes from downtown St. Louis. As stated earlier, the group has been in this hospital for almost 2 decades now and so can provide a very stable base of operations for the long term. The hospital’s equipment includes a Phillips Interion  1.5 T MR, a 3.0 T Phillips MR (the first in the region used for clinical purposes, got it in August 2005), 2 multi-slice CT scanners and a 64-slice, a dual head nucs camera, digital fluoro, fixed PET CT and more.  PACS was implemented four plus years ago and they have been on voice recognition for three plus years. It is a very efficiently running department.  The group also covers an imaging center.  The center is hospital owned and is located roughly 15 minutes from the hospital on the IL side of the river and is similarly equipped. The next big advantage to this situation is that the group is very well-run from a business standpoint.  

Lifestyle is also important to this practice, and while their compensation and benefits are very competitive relative to other Midwestern practices, the group feels having a life outside of radiology is pretty important, too. As well, you can look forward to having a very reasonable call schedule of only 1:10. And they group does use a  nighthawk service that takes over at a very reasonable 9 p.m.  Vacation is equal from the start and they currently take 10 weeks of vacation. Another lifestyle perk is the fact that as a group they work a 4 1/2 day work week allowing everyone a half-day a week to do whatever you like outside of work. The group’s location also offers a very wide variety of places in the area to live running the gamut from a downtown high-rise apartment or suburban subdivision (on either side of the river) to gentlemen’s farm with a few acres to play around on. So, whether you like having the amenities of the city at your front door, or just close enough to get to easily, you should be able to find what you are looking for, and at a pretty good price.  This is an excellent opportunity for someone that wants to take advantage of the Midwest’s good earning potential and remain close to a metro area like St. Louis.

Community: It is a city of 50,000 or so roughly 35 minutes from downtown St. Louis, which is a metro area of 2.2 million people.  Good schools, amenities galore, and a great four-season climate await you.

Call or fax/email your CV for more details.

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